State of mind
by Meteora
Summary: A Yellow rose reflects.. ErikoxRei


** Why did I choose to do this? I'm more for Sei-Yumi, but I thought I'd give this a shot.**

**This pairing is completely ignored by all fic writers but has great potential. I know people are gonna say that Eriko's the only straight chick on the show, please don't ruin this for us...n all**

**But I thought it'd be more fun if she were bi. And this whole fic can be taken in the platonic sense as well.(reader's choice)**

**And this is NOT, I repeat NOT Yoshino-bashing, so Rei-Yoshino shippers cannot legally flame me. **

**A/N: pelt me with rotten eggs if you must but I haven't seen the complete 4****th****season of mari-mite as yet, so mistakes are allowed**

**Disclaimer:****Don't own mari-mite. (do you?)**

**now let's get on with it!**

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What made me pick her?

Everyone I know has asked me this question at least once if not persistently... Yoko says it's because she caught my eye. Sei's explanation is the funniest. She thinks it's because she has short hair! I know hilarious, right?

I have occasionally asked myself the same question... and now, I guess, is the best time to ponder over this. Nathaniel Hawthorne had said that man has no influence over the things that influence his own destiny; during my second year at Lillian, I was about to discover how true that actually was.

It all started on a lovely spring morning. The school festival was imminent and my Grande seour, the then Rosa foetida, was barking out orders

"Yoko, you're in charge of the backdrop, lights and all other technical aspects of the play.

Sei, please make sure the representatives of the other school arrive on time and they're attended to.

Eriko…Eriko! Please pay attention!"

I snapped out of my reverie and looked up promptly.

"Yes, onee-sama?"

Beside me Yoko suppressed a giggle. Sei, who had surprisingly attended the meeting, looked away from the window for a moment.

Rosa foetida sighed and ran a hand through her blond fringe before continuing "This year, we'll be having a martial arts display along with all the other events. Eriko, I want you to go over the Kendo club and inspect some of the first years."

I nodded

"You know,," she continued "handpick a few of them for the opening ceremony"

Rosa gigantea arose from her seat to wrap it all up "Rosa foetida, Rosa chinensis and I will supervise the onstage and offstage events. That will be all for today."

We stood up to leave. I was just about to walk out when Rosa foetida came up to me from behind and tapped my shoulder lightly. I didn't turn. But she spoke to me in her sweetest voice "And Eriko, try to take some interest please"

_Yeah right.._

My interaction with first years was close to nil. The only fist year I knew was the beautiful Sachiko Ogasawara, who had been forced on Yoko. Excuse the expression but there was simply no other way to put it. The roses were bent on having her in the yamayurikai. They couldn't ask Sei, since she spent almost all her time with the quiet pretty girl with the long hair, Shiori. And my one-sama knew that I didn't care about having a petite seour. And she was right.

Nevertheless, I went to the Kendo club during their practice. I was standing at a corner very inconspicuously, observing an ongoing match. The captain was very skilled indeed . And as the roses had said, the Kendo display would indeed be a big hit. Several of the first years exhibited unbelievable prowess and skill. There were three duels going on simultaneously. I was watching the one which was closest to me when a flash of blond suddenly caught my eye. It belonged to a tall stately girl. She was taller than me and her height along with her proficient handling of the kendo stick gave her a queenly, unapproachable air. But it was mellowed down by her beautiful, hazel brown eyes that sparkled with innocence and clarity of thought.

"That's Hesekura Rei" one of the first years standing next to me informed

I nodded in a non-committal way.

"She's a first year you know... and she's already become one of the most popular girls in class"

I suddenly realized that I was in a good position myself as Rosa foetida en bouton, right?

Well, wrong!

She came up to me directly after her match was over and asked me "Who are you?"

Her eyes had narrowed a bit on sensing an intruder in _her_kendo club

It took me 0.2 seconds to get over my initial shock. Then I smiled a bit and decided to play along.

"Eriko" I answered "My name is Eriko. And i'm just an observer here. I was.." I tried to come up with something "thinking of joining the club"

She relaxed a bit and smiled "I see.."

She leaned on the wall beside me, I could see she was getting tired. She had won three straight sets.

"Hesekura Rei." she said introducing herself to me "So what do you think of the club?

We're in a very good position this year. We even have a chance of going all the way to the nationals." she smiled and ran a hand through her closely cropped blond hair. She paused for an answer

"Impressive.." I replied

She nodded as though satisfied "I hear some rep from the yamayurikai is coming to check us out"

My eyes widened a bit

"We'll show her, though" she continued with confidence. I was intimidated. I suddenly didn't want to be that person.

"I'm sure you will.."

"Well anyway" she continued straightening herself "I'd better get back to practice. And if you're interested in joining" she said looking at me "I'm sure I'll be seeing more of you again" She smiled her third and final smile and left.

_I'm sure you will_

_***********_

"Well that went well, didn't it?" she asked me resting her head against the wall in the kendo club as we sat down in one of the corners.

"The kendo display was a big success. So was the entire festival, I didn't know you were in the yamayurikai play. You were quite good"

Thankfully, she still didn't know about my position as a rosebud. But I had absolutely no idea why I was thankful for that.

"Thank you" I said quietly "And congratulations on winning your match. It was spectacular."

She smiled. She was probably blushing as well, but it was too dark for me too make out.

"The Roses sure liked the display. That's what I heard from the captain. They were all praises. But I wonder why the rep never showed up." she looked at the ceiling

"I guess she never had a doubt how good you were."

She probably blushed again.

"But.." she started " I still don't get why you wanted to come here of all places, sit in the dark and miss the post-festival celebrations.."

"Shhh.." I whispered "You talk too much.."

That was the moment I had been waiting for. My chance to do what I had wanted to do since the moment I first saw her.

I took out my rosary and held it in my hands. It was a beautiful rosary, the one that my onee-sama had given me. The cross in it self was exquisite with a square cut emerald at the centre. I liked it so much that I was unwilling to part with it till the right girl came along; and this, was definitely it.

She stood up, evidently surprised.

I followed suit and stood up to face her

"Eriko.. does this mean.." she stammered "I'm not.. This is so.."

"Sudden? Yes I know. But I wouldn't have it any other way." I said " all I need to know is, whether you accept?"

She looked away, "Am I even good enough?"

I ran a hand through her hair " You're perfect" I said softly "And now let me ask you properly" I cleared my throat

" Hesekura Rei, will you be my petite seour?"

"Even I wouldn't have it any other way"

"About time. I thought I'd have to get down on one knee or something" I giggled

I gently put the rosary around her neck and it was official. Rei became my petite seour, just mine... not Rosa foetida en bouton's petite seour, but Eriko Torii's petite seour..

*********

Rumour sure does spread faster than fire doesn't it? By the following week, everyone at school got to know about Rosa foetida en bouton's new petite seour courtesy the newspaper club's two page special report complete with both our pictures. And sure enough Rei got to know as well. She certainly wasn't very happy about it,though.

"How long did you think you could keep this as secret?" Rei demanded angrily,and she immediately turned around so that she wasn't facing me. I went over to her and wrapped my arms around her from behind and said softly "Rei.."

She stiffened a bit. I continued "This doesn't make you want to stop being my petite seour anymore, does it?"

She relaxed into my arms and sighed "Of course not"

"Good" I said softly "I'm sorry for not having told you, but it doesn't change anything"

Rei turned around to face me and smiled weakly "I'm sorry for having acted this way, Eriko"

"That's not correct" chimed in another voice "You should call her onee-sama now"

I turned around to see Sei Sato enter the room. A mischiveous grin on her face.

"Rosa gigantea en bouton" exclaimed Rei "I'll be going now, if you'll excuse me" and with that she left, Sei waving into the air after her.

"Do we have a meeting today?" I asked tiredly

"Hmm..." began Sei feigning obvious ignorance to my question "It's just like Rosa foetida said"

"What is?" I asked impatiently

She came close to my ear and whispered "You have started taking interest in things"

Rei was always very mature about everything. Sometimes it was scary. From the time she started working for the yamayurikai, she made it a point to be nice to and get along with everyone. She was accepted very quickly by all three roses. Rosa foetida adored her. According to her I couldn't have found anyone more perfect. She officially welcomed

Rei into the yellow rose family. She was completely at home with us. She got along exceptionally well with Sachiko and was one of the very few who she would actually open up to. Her skills would usually come in very handy during council work. And on top of that, she was our secret weapon for getting Sei to attend meetings. Usually no one in their right mind could resist Rei's brownies. I'd never guessed that such a seasoned martial artist could bake and knit, and that too with equal proficiency. She slowly became everyone's favourite. We had a strong mutual understanding and rarely argued. But there was this one time which I still remember.

The who or what of it fade away in my mind. I heard from someone that the captain of the kendo club had asked Rei to accept her rosary. And that's when it all started. I brushed it off as a silly rumour till I had a confrontation with Rei herself. I was in the yamayurikai office when Rei entered quietly and seated herself at the table. A was standing near the window. She greeted me solenmly and got straight to the point

"Onee-sama...I have to tell you something" she began in a monotone.

"Yes, Rei?" I questioned

She narrated the events as they had happened and waited for my response. After a moment's consideration, I said, "And?"

"And?"she asked "And I refused her"

"Rei, I'm sorry" I said

She had risen from her seat and she looked a bit surprised "It's not your fault, onee-sama"

I continued "She's the captain, right? And you'd have a better chance of being the next captain if you were her her petite seour..but I'm not an because of me.."

"How could you be so insensitive, onee-sama!" She was shaking furiously now. I was taken a bit aback.

"Someone else wanted me to be their petite seour and you don't even care..you don't care at all, do you?" tears began to flood her eyes.

And I finally understood where I had gone wrong.

"Look Rei," I said placing a hand on her shoulder "I trust you completely. I know that you'd never abandon me. You're one of the few people I can actually trust. That's why I gave you my rosary "

I paused for an impact. She'd calmed down now. Her eyes had widened.

I continued "That's the reason I didn't seem to care. Please don't misunderstand. I couldn't care less if the captain offered you her rosary. I know you'd refuse her. That comes naturally to me."

Rei broke down on my shoulder. I ran a hand through her hair to calm down her hysterical crying. She spoke to me in between sobs.

"You're my only Grande seour... I couldn't imagine anyone else... I don't care if she were the captain or the ruler of the world... I need you to know that.."

"I know.." I hissed gently as I continued stroking her hair "I know...hush, now"

That was the day we shared our first and last kiss.

Neither of us ever mentioned it again. It was sealed away with a silent pact somewhere at the back of our memories. She was normal around me after that. The was no awkwardness at all. She had quickly moved on and so had I. I wondered who was going faster, though... me or her. She attended yamayurikai meetings and spoke naturally with everyone. She was completely free around me as well. I was glad to have her back; and I guess so was she. It was then that I realized how much we both silently depended on each other and needed each other.

Rei was always there like my solid rock, unflinching and unmoving. Whether it was helping me in the election campaigns or something as insignificant as checking to see if I'd managed to reach school on time because of my late sleeping habits, she was always there for me. There was a myriad of reasons why she didn't have to do all that she did for me, But she always chose to overlook those. For Christmas, her gift to me was a lovely pink woolen headband that she had knitted herself. She'd even sewn on a line of sequins and yellow beads. It was easily the best gift I'd ever received.

During spring, when my onee-sama was going to graduate, she came to me one day and sat down beside me with a distressed look on her face. I was just about to ask her what the problem was when she suddenly said

"How can I help you, onee sama?"

I looked up at her in disbelief. She continued

"Rosa foetida's leaving. This must be so hard for you. Is there anything I can do?"

I smiled at her and gently touched her cheek "But you don't need to."

"But, onee-sama.."

I cut her off "I'm not going to cry, I never have" I paused and closed my eyes "I've decided..that I'm going to be strong for the both of us."

She looked reassured and finally said "You sure?"

"Rei, there is something I would like you to do for me, though" I said, an idea already at play inside my head

"What is it, onee-sama" she asked curiously

"You remember that one handed apple crushing trick?"

Her features contorted

"could you do that at the Roses' farewell?"

"I was afraid you'd say something like that"

***********

After graduation, at the beginning of a new year, a new development took place; Rei got herself her own petite seour, Shimazu Yoshino. She was a lovely creature dainty and delicate, perfect for Rei, I thought. And I found myself taking on the role of the reluctant mother-in-law, forever scrutinizing and criticizing. I really don't think Yoshino really liked me for that. But Rei was still my cute whining little sister. She still sought my opinion on everything, ranging from the newspaper club's interviews to how she should cut her hair. But I finally realized how distant we had become after the yellow rose revolution took place. And after Yumi told me everything, I didn't resent it. It was time for Rei to finally grow up and stop depending on me. She had a little sister of her own now, after all. But I still enjoyed the power I had over her. I could convince her to do almost anything. I remember the time I got her to agree to the newspaper club's valentine's day treasure hunt, much to Yoshino's dismay. It was so cute watching the two of them interact and have those innocent spats. And I finally felt as if my work was done.

But Rei still loved me. I would always remain her unerring Grande seour. She defended me vehemently during the whole Yamanobe-kun incident. And she would always continue to do so. This was what she told me during my graduation. Something I would always remember. And the pink headband was something I would treasure forever.

**See? No Yoshino bashing at all!**

**And I was fulfilling my duties as a good fanfic writer of experimenting with different pairings.**

**Final word from me: you are not getting out of here without reviewing!**

**Have a nice summer :-)**


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